Notes / Commercial Description:
New Belgium Brewing and The Lost Abbey brewery from San Marcos, California have a shared passion for a variety of things, not the least of which is the wild Belgian yeast brettanomyces. So they decided to join forces and collaborate. Lost Abbey Collaboration is brewed simply with pale malts accompanied by Target, Centennial and Sorachi hops for a hint of citrus. Focusing on their mutual respect for the ingredient, the spotlight shines on the brettanomyces, where a full brett fermentation offers bold pineapple overtones and funky, sour edge. The beer is a shining, golden shade and is warming and dry.

Poured from a twenty-two ounce bottle a hazy straw yellow under a 1/2" thick white head which fades to the rim and leaves splotchy lace. Aroma of mild Brett funk, herbal and lemony. Flavors are estery overripe fruit close to spoiled, faded hops, doughy/bready with faint banana. Medium body and moderate carbonation. Age has not been good to this beer.

"The best part of collaboration is discovering mutual passions, with Lost Abbey it was the wild yeast strain Brettanomyces. Using Belgian inspiration, we fermented the bier with Brettanomyces to bring out tropical fruit notes, crisp haziness and bright flavor. A touch of fruity Soriachi Ace hops pleases the palette and entices frequent sips." Brewed in the style of an American Wild Ale, Brett Beer is a one-off collaboration release between New Belgium and The Lost Abbey, available in 22 oz. bottles and on limited draft.

Poured from a 22 oz. bottle to a New Belgium globe glass. Served above 50 degrees Fahrenheit.

(Appearance) Brett Beer pours a frothy cream head of an off-white complexion over a densely hazy pale amber body with plenty of dense peppery sediment in tow. Retention is very good and lacing is light and patchy. 4.25

(Smell) Up front, notes of pale cracker and wheat malt with undertones of pithy citrus, peppercorns, clove and banana bread. Some mild acidity and lactic tartness is present, however there is little funk and sourness developed in the aroma, resulting in a mild, underdeveloped aroma. The potency is high. 3.5

(Taste) The flavor comes off as even less enjoyable upfront as it is a bit messy and harsh in the few places that the flavor comes through in full. Soapy, grainy pale malts with a light sweetness is accentuated by a sharp arrangement of yeasty phenols and is almost devoid of any funk and Brettanomyces characteristics. Overly sweet and heavy and yet finishes parching dry with a yeasty mouthful of white pepper, clove and dried pineapple. The pasteurization sees this beer as relatively unchanged from its young ale state. 3.25

(Mouthfeel) The texture is slick, lightly chewy and moderately dry. Carbonation is medium/high, generating a moderately frothy and smoothly crisp mouthfeel. The body is medium for the style, medium overall. Balance is yeasty, acidic and phenolic over sweet. Alcohol presence is medium, phenols are high. 3.5

(Overall) In general, it's a fairly messy wild ale with most of its shortcomings in how poorly the brett-borne flavors have developed. I had expected that with time, sourness may have rounded the edges of this beer and it would have matured, but time doesn't seem to have improved its chances. Too short on funk and sourness, too full on fruity sweetness and yeast-borne phenols. Altogether it's drinkable, but I did not find it very enjoyable. There are far superior examples of Brettanomyces beer out there, and its unfortunate that two reputable breweries were unable to generate a Brett beer whose sum was superior to either of its parts. 3.25